


To Drink in the Underworld

by jolybird



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 00:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7552642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jolybird/pseuds/jolybird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cosette, Eponine and Feuilly's microbrewery, Little Larks Ciders, is finally ready for it's first craft beer fest. As if the excitement of their first event wasn't enough, Feuilly won't shut up about how all her friends are going to be at the event and she can finally introduce her cousin to them. </p>
<p>It only takes about three seconds before they pull Cosette into their friend group with no intention of letting her go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Drink in the Underworld

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ofgoatsandllamas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofgoatsandllamas/gifts).



> I LOVED this prompt so much! The only time I was ever at a craft beer fest, I was working at a newspaper booth but once I did get a tour of a little indie brewing company so I know a /little/ about the craft beer world. I had so much fun looking up different companies and beers/ciders ideas for this. There's nothing like going to the bar and thinking "this cider is really good, I'm going to mention it in a fanfic" :p
> 
> Thanks B for betaing!! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy, ofgoatsandllamas!!!

  
Cosette leaned against the van as Éponine straightened the tablecloth and Feuilly stood on a chair to straighten their banner. It had taken them nearly a half hour to decide the layout of their site, the main attraction was, of course, their van with built in taps. She and Feuilly had spent their spring customizing it and they were a  _ little _ proud of it (but then again, Éponine had it as her profile picture on several social media sites so they weren’t the only ones). 

Feuilly grinned and hopped down off their chair, she put her hands on her hips and watched as the first few people started milling their way towards them. “I’m so glad everyone’s here this year. Remember when I dragged you two last year and we managed to miss everyone?”

“That’s because  _ someone _ was freaking out about asking me out.” Cosette teased and Eponine blushed, mumbling under her breath. Feuilly rolled her eyes with a smile. Last year  _ had _ been a slight disaster with her toting her cousin and Éponine around, both of them refusing to ask the other out for reasons Feuilly didn’t want to remember. 

“I met most of her friends before, they’re not that great.” Éponine teased as she finally stepped away from the table. She had been worrying over millimeters since she got out of the van. 

As expected, Feuilly drew in a dramatic breath, “How dare you! My friends are incredible! Joly once made mille feuille for breakfast for me  for an entire  _ week _ , Bahorel has literally saved kittens from the gutter, Grantaire--”

“If you bring up the time she drank three bottles of wine and then ran the Paris marathon--” her girlfriend said dryly.  


“She did that!” Feuilly bounced a little on her feet as she laughed and Cosette couldn’t help but laugh with her. “That’s the day she and Enjolras got together too!” 

“Oh! You were texting me the play by play!” Cosette smiled, as a group of people walked over to their table, “They’re both here? I’m finally getting a chance to meet them?”

“Yes! Sirens With Switchblades is playing later, a couple of them are volunteering slash promoting ABC--which is a sponsor this year! And then ‘Chetta and Bossuet I think are working the Musain’s booth.” 

“Can we get them to carry our cider?” Éponine asked, pouring samples of their Tradewind cider. Feuilly shrugged, which mean that yeah they totally would, she just hadn’t found the right moment to ask them yet. 

Cosette was pulled into a conversation about the ABV of their ciders (their Black Cherry Cyclone had an ABV of 15%--Éponine’s doing), Feuilly vanished for several minutes as Éponine demonstrated some of her bartending skills in order to sell a couple six packs (maybe? She was throwing bottles around and then she was stuffing money into Cosette’s apron so either she made a sale  or she pickpocketed someone so…). 

Feuilly reappeared in a flurry of motion, a sample glass that she had Cosette taste (it tasted like sewage and she laughed as she made Éponine try it as well and then ducked as Éponine swung a fist at her), and she took Cosette’s apron off her dramatically. 

“Joly made donuts, they’re at the Musain booth if you hurry.” 

“Are you kicking me out?” she said with a mock gasp and a hand on her chest.  


“Yeah. You’re the most innocent looking, you’ve got to get intel.” 

Cosette rolled her eyes but allowed her to shoo her away from their booth. She walked down the aisle, pulling her sunglasses on now that she was out from underneath their tent and tried not to appear like she was judging the other booths. Because she wasn’t--there were a couple with marketing strategies that she really envied, posters and logos that she wished she thought of. 

She was really mad she didn’t have a sample glass on her but she’d have to ask Feuilly friends if they had an extra. They were oddly protective of them this year as if the number of sample glasses meant anything? They might have been trying to promote sustainability this year--Éponine had done the paperwork, Cosette just focused on the cider side of things.  


She found the Musain Cafe/Brewing Company booth by their giant elephant logo--or well no--their logo didn’t have an elephant in it, they just had one next to their logo? For decoration?

Someone was perched on the table with a stack of flyers on their lap. They wore an ABC shirt and had an auburn braid artfully draped over their shoulder--Enjolras? Or maybe Prouvaire? She felt thoroughly embarrassed with not knowing Feuilly’s friends, her cousin talked about them enough but the only time she was on social media recently was for Little Lark Ciders. Two more people were behind the table and they were wearing Musain shirts. The ABC member said something that made the woman roll her eyes but the bald man swooped over to Cosette as she neared the table, charming smile in place. 

“Would you like a sample of our IPAs or something to eat?” 

“Feuilly sent me over saying Joly made donuts actually?” 

His eyes went wide and his smile went wider, “Cosette Fauchelevant! Your cousin has been promising you for months now.” 

“I’ve been a little busy, sorry--”

“No, no, come back here and out of the crowd.” He pulled her around the table as if the front was packed (it wasn’t, a couple was slowly making their way towards them but other than that they were in a lull). “Cosette--this is my ethereal girlfriend Musichetta and the cornish pixie perched on our table is Jehan Prouvaire.” 

Prouvaire leaned back on the table to look at her from over top of his heart shaped sunglasses and, actually, they matched the ones Cosette herself was currently wearing. He grinned and she grinned back. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet the elusive Cosette.”

“You too.” She smiled. She could already tell why Marius and Feuilly both loved them. 

Musichetta dug around in their ice bucket and pulled out a can that had a picture of a woman walking, in front of her was winter, behind her was spring and behind the whole image was a drawing of a pomegranate. She handed it to Cosette, “This is our pomegranate wheat beer, it’s new I want everyone to try it.” 

Cosette popped the tab and took a sip, “Oh wow.” 

Jehan spun around on the table so he could face her, “Have a seat, stay a while. Have Bossuet make you a salmon burger, have some of our olive cheese sticks, try the hummus--I helped make that. It’s a beer infused sriracha hummus.”

“Oh my god--yeah. If I could--could I try that?”

“Yes!” Bossuet told her and then turned to grab it.

“By the way,” Jehan smiled, “like Persephone on your drink, once you eat in the underworld, you’ve got to stay.” 

Cosette looked at him from over the top of the can and held out a hand for the hummus. She put the beer down on the arm of her chair and then dug into the hummus without saying anything. She wasn't quite sure how to respond. She let the taste sink in for a minute and then the turned back to Jehan. "I don't have a problem with that."  

“Holy fuck Feuilly has been holding  _ out _ on us!” Cosette flinched as a curly haired woman all but threw herself into the chair next to her, she had a bottle of their El Nino cider in her hand and Jehan took it immediately to taste 

“Holy shit, Cosette this is great--is it grapefruit?” 

“Cosette?” the woman asked but Marius stepped in front of her. Cosette gasped, grabbed her beer, stood up and hugged him tightly. When she pulled away Marius kept his arm around her proudly. 

“Feuilly’s cousin. You met her girlfriend Éponine a couple times.” The woman nodded at the mention of Éponine, “Cosette this is Grantaire.”

“Feuilly, Bossuet, Musichetta and Jehan have told me all about you.”

Grantaire glanced to her friends coolly, “My friends are a bunch of fucking gossips. But not when it comes to cider I’ve learned. Who’s in charge of getting the Musain to carry it?”

“Oh--well--we’d love that.”

Grantaire leaned back in her chair and shut her eyes as if she had already had a long day by noon. "This is the first thing that's gone in my favor today."  


Marius rolled his eyes and then explained, "Sirens With Switchblades are going on during the talk she wanted to go to." 

"Good." Musichetta, Bossuet and Jehan chorused, but Grantaire smirked. 

"Courfeyrac already promised he'd heckle in my absence." She pushed herself up, and stretched her neck. "Anyway, I don't have to be at the stage for hours still so, Cosette, I've been ordered to make sure you scope out the competition." Cosette quickly downed the rest of her beer and nodded. Marius teasingly rolled his eyes--he was a lightweight and Cosette always rubbed it in even though she never meant to. 

Grantaire dug under the table until she pulled out two sample cups on lanyards, "we mean business." 

"Get another one. I'm going with you."   Jehan slid from the table and took Cosette's arm in his. Grantaire put the lanyards around their necks like she was awarding them medals and then the three were off. 

Grantaire and Jehan convinced her to take notes on her phone on the other venders. It started off as "really good advertising,"  and "interesting blend of hops" but then the two took it over and it turned into "WHO LET THEM NAME THEIR COMPANY PETITE CHATTE??" and "DEVIL'S KISS IPA--MORE LIKE DEVIL'S PISS". Jehan took her phone for several minutes to compose a poem to an Apricot Ale that he loved so much, he bought a twelve pack and professed his love to everyone behind the booth before he swept away without Cosette and Grantaire. It had taken them two stanzas to find him leaning against the stage. 

"Ugh, why are we here now? I'm going to be here later." Grantaire frowned as Jehan typed away. 

"Cosette!" 

The three flinched at the sudden scream and Cosette turned to see Marius' boyfriend Courfeyrac heading over to them. She smiled and waved. 

"What the _hell_ are you doing with R and Prouvaire? We just came from the booth and I _told_ you you guys should have brought the Raspberry Cider! Everyone loves it! I think you might actually sell out."

"What the hell?" Grantaire shouted, earning glances from some of the passerby's. "This betrayal! Marius I knew he'd never come in and tell us all about their fucking cider but Feuilly! And now you! Never in my life have I--"

A tall blonde woman stepped out from behind Courfeyrac, went over to Grantaire and kissed her to make her stop talking. Grantaire sputtered and then laughed as the blonde turned to Cosette, "Nice to meet you, Cosette. Your cousin's constantly singing you're praises. I'm Enjolras."

"I guessed from that kiss." She smile, "Feuilly tells the Paris Marathon story constantly."

A faint blush appeared on her cheeks but she ignored it, "Are you three sampling?"

"So far Little Lark is my favorite." Grantaire said.

"You literally designed Musain's labels and helped come up with a least half of the brews." Enjolras rolled her eyes and Grantaire took her hand.

"You said you just came from her stall." she said carefully, obviously she meant _how could you be arguing with me after you've tried it_. Cosette was flattered, Grantaire was one of her favorite people right now.

"I'm not the biggest fan of ciders--but they were very good." Enjolras turned to Cosette to make sure she didn't take offense but seeing as Grantaire was indigently gaping at her, Cosette just laughed.

"Okay--" Jehan pushed himself upright and handed Cosette her phone so she could read the poem he wrote. Courfeyrac read it over her shoulder and then Jehan was pulling at them. "Come on, all this talk of Little Lark, I want to go see Feuilly and try everything."

The five headed off and almost made it back to the stands before Enjolras stopped and elbowed Grantaire, "Isn't that your band?" She pointed to a picnic table where two women and a man were sitting around several six packs.

"You say your band like they aren't your friends and like you haven't known Combeferre since you were in the womb."

"We met when we were twelve." Enjolras said but it went on deaf ears as they all made a beeline for the table and Cosette had to hurry to keep up.

The only man at the table, who was shorter than both women by at least a foot, spotted them first and he jumped up, "Grantaire!" he shouted and pulled her into a hug.

"You saw me like an hour ago!" Grantaire groaned playfully as she hugged him back, "Why are you like this? Are you guys doing shots without me?"

Courfeyrac stepped up next to Cosette, "the little one's Joly, the one with the undercut is Bahorel and the one glaring at the label of that bottle like it personally offended her is Combeferre. Guys--this is Feuilly's cousin Cosette."

"Finally." Joly smiled and then he pulled Grantaire down to sit next to him, "Here--all of these are amazing except for this one." He grabbed the bottle from Combeferre's hand and handed it to Grantaire. From the corner of her eye, she watched as Enjolras and Courfeyrac shared a smile. Grantaire took a sip, her eyes went wide and then she handed it to Cosette to try.

She put her to her lips but then Grantaire shuddered and gasped, "What the fuck was in that?"

Cosette lowered the drink as Combeferre started giggling and Jehan cautiously took the bottle from her hand. He took a sip and then immediately handed it back. "It's not that bad."

Cosette took a sip as Bahorel laughed, "It's pumpkin, coffee and ginger--it's weird."

It tasted like a bitter pumpkin spice latte sprinkled with ginger and raw bread dough. It was interesting.

Combeferre, who was still giggling, stood up and held out her hand, which Cosette shook, "I'm Combeferre. The best member of Sirens with Switchblades."  


"We already told her your name!" Joly whispered loudly but Cosette introduced herself again anyway. 

Combeferre's eyes lit up at her name, "Oh good--let's go see your booth, I haven't gotten to see your van yet." 

"Van?" Jehan asked, frowning. 

"We installed taps to the van so--" Cosette began but Jehan took Enjolras and Courfeyrac by the arms and started walking them towards the booth. Grantaire rolled her eyes and handed Cosette a six pack of a summer IPA to carry. Bahorel and Joly walked with her as Grantaire and Combeferre joked about the coffee/pumpkin beer, passing it back and forth between them. 

They stopped at several booths and Combeferre attempted to buy two more six packs but she was voted down by all three of her friends--Jehan, Enjolras and Courfeyrac had vanished in the crowd already. They caught up with them a couple stalls before Little Lark, Enjolras was handing a flyer to the woman behind the counter. They had a beer that they donated half the profits from to a woman's shelter. 

"Can I buy a six pack from them?" Combeferre whispered, it was almost comical because she was carrying two packs already, but Courfeyrac held up his own. She gave him two thumbs up. 

As a crowd they reached Little Lark's stall and because they had a van they had been put on the end so there was plenty of room in their space. They all crowded in, cheering Feuilly like they hadn't seen her in years. 

Éponine watched them with a wry smile and Cosette slipped over to her and gave her a kiss. "Have fun?" 

"They kept coming out of the woodwork." Cosette smiled. 

"Can I sit in it?" Jehan asked, already walking to the van with Feuilly. 

"Go ahead!" Éponine called and then smiled when she looked at Combeferre who had a look of awe on her face. 

"She's a little tipsy." Cosette explained and then got her a water bottle. Combeferre smiled her thanks and chugged half the bottle in one go, "Don't you have to go on stage in a bit?" 

She shrugged, "yeah, but not for a couple hours. I have time still. We went hard, plus this heat isn't helping anything." 

"I'm gonna try to sneak over and see you guys." 

Éponine frowned and glanced around, "Where did Marius go? We gave him a shirt, sent him to go get you and then he never came back to help?"

Courfeyrac frowned, "Do you want me to go find him?" 

Feuilly shook her head, "he's probably at your booth. You guys have food." 

"Speaking of their booth," Cosette turned to look at her cousin and her girlfriend, "did you try their hummus--I really like it." 

Grantaire, who was helping herself to tiny little sips of all their ciders frowned and reached into her pocket for her wallet, "How much are you selling them for?" 

"Oh no--" Cosette began the same time Feuilly pushed her hands down and said, "you are not paying." Grantaire and Feuilly squabbled for a couple minutes that ended up with Grantaire sipping on a can of Black Cherry Cyclone. 

"You know you've won my friendship right?" Grantaire asked and Enjolras rolled her eyes next to her at _won_. "We're totally friends now." 

"Jehan said that there was no escape after I drank your pomegranate wheat bear." 

"Yes! Persephone was a warning. You and Éponine are officially invited to family game night next Saturday. Please bring some cider." 

Éponine crossed her arms, "we'll bring some of our test ones. We're messing around with a barley wine beer that should be ready by then. I think it's still missing something so maybe you all could give us your opinion." 

"Yes. I'll make sure 'Chetta brings some of the ones she's messing around with too." 

"I know just the one!" Joly smiled and Cosette wasn't quite sure she liked it. 

"If it's that chocolate peanut butter donuts one you and Bossuet accidentally made..." Enjolras began and Combeferre interrupted her to announce Sirens was in the middle of writing a song about the legendary brew. 

"This is going to be a disaster." Éponine said but with the next breath she leaned forward and started whispering plans for an éclair brew. Cosette laughed and found her cousin who was talking animatedly with Courfeyrac and Jehan near the van. She could tell why she loved these people so much and she was looking forward to how they were going to influence each other--well, sort of. Grantaire and Joly were now shouting out flavors with Éponine and they were starting to get a little scary, they were talking about avocados and chilies and shellfish and that was so _not_ happening in her brewery. 


End file.
